Notable comments from Bessent on the Fed: Bessent says the Fed presidents (who are more hawkish right now than the governors) shouldn’t be talking so much. “It’s time for the Fed just to move into the background like it used to do…” “I think we just need to calm down all these speeches by these bank presidents that are just redundant.” CNBC’s Becky Quick challenges his premise, pointing out that bank presidents are often addressing economic concerns they hear from their districts. Bessent doesn't address her point and brings up a new one: He challenges the legitimacy of the bank presidents because some of them aren’t from their districts and are from New York City (he doesn’t name them, but a couple of potentially hawkish voters next year have background in finance and therefore worked for many years in New York). Bessent is then asked about how the Fed should grapple with the risk of higher prices and weaker growth. He focuses on weakness due to the shutdown: “I am not even sure what the discussion is here.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLe_s_C7Jvg(Nick Timiraos)